Prime Minister is Missing Teachers Notes

THE PRIME MINISTER IS MISSINGTEACHERS NOTES• From the program, and from any further research you have done, discuss in class then write your own commentaryon the ways in which Harold Holt was the first Australian prime minister to use the electronic mass media oftelevision as a means of projecting a deliberately-constructed image of himself to the Australian public.What was that image? Provide examples of both archival film and press photographs that assisted in constructingand broadcasting that image across the land. How do you think an Australian public at large would have respondedto these images?• Do you think the medium of television is used by politicians today, many decades after the 1960s, for similarpurposes in constructing ‘positive’ images of themselves? Discuss in class, with reference to current political leaderssuch as the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.• Following from the previous activity, it may be argued that public figures such as prime ministers cannot totallycontrol and contain all media images of themselves. Discuss in class any examples of archival film used during theprogram that, when examined closely, indicate an alternative image of Harold Holt that perhaps he, or his advisers,would prefer the public not to see. How might we interpret those images of Holt? Do you think there was a case atthe time, when self-censorship by the mass media was more pronounced than it is today, for not screening this filmto TV viewers?• From the documentary film and any further reading you have done, in your own words write an account of thepressures and emotional strains Prime Minister Holt was under from within his own Government cabinet and hisown Liberal Party. Attempt, for example, to explain the rift between William McMahon and John McEwen, andwhether Holt was able to contain and deal with it satisfactorily. Was he in any genuine danger of having the primeministership taken from him by McMahon?• Write a commentary on whether the public had a right to be informed that one of Holt’s doctors has prescribedpowerful pain-killing and potentially addictive medication for him, and that on at least two occasions whileswimming or skin-diving, the Prime Minister had almost drowned and had to be rescued from the water.• Prime Minister Holt was advised by his Melbourne orthopaedic surgeon, who had prescribed the drugs, neither toplay tennis nor swim in his present condition. From the film, according to Tom Frame, Holt’s biographer, ‘The troublewas, he was like many Australian men, ignored the doctor, I’m invincible, I’ll do whatever I like’.Use this general situation and attitude to draft a short fiction story about a so-called ‘invincible’ Aussie male.The story may be presented in serious, dramatic mode, or as a comedy-satire. Also consider the narrative viewpointand themes. Will the story, for example, be narrated by the main protagonist himself, or from the viewpoint of afamily member, a work colleague? Could the protagonist already be deceased, telling the story in flashback?• Discuss in class then write your own opinions about whether you think the actual or rumoured extra-maritalsexual affairs of a public figure such as Holt should be reported and discussed in the news media, or ignored andsuppressed even when the information is common knowledge among journalists. Is it hypocritical of journalists toreport on any of these issues relating to well-known public figures, when the private behaviour and actions of othercitizens (including, perhaps, journalists themselves) may be identical?• Discuss in class whether you think that vision of a politician tripping over, or being bitten by a dog on a ‘meet andgreet in the street’, screened on the evening TV news, on current affairs programs or during political satire-comedyprograms, is more likely to evoke ridicule and contempt rather than sympathy from the viewing audience.Could it even be considered as news? Do you think that such scenes should be self-censored by TV channels, and notscreened at all?• Following from the previous activity, in pairs or in small groups devise and write the dialogue for a discussionamongst a news editorial group, arguing about the ethical and newsworthy considerations of running a story ina newspaper or on television, complete with ‘incriminating’ photographs or video, about a politician caught in anembarrassing or compromising position. For example, the discussion may extend further than whether to present thestory; it may develop into a dialogue about why and how best to present it.The police investigationThe program argues that the police investigation into the disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt was incomplete,not so much in that it eventually returned a finding of accidental death by drowning, which may be correct in itself,but that the range of issues that may have contributed directly or indirectly to the drowning were not sufficientlyinvestigated, or even ignored. The overriding problem in arriving at a conclusive finding, in terms of, for example, postmortem examinations of the corpse, was that there was not a corpse to examine.

THE PRIME MINISTER IS MISSINGTEACHERS NOTES• From the program and from any further research, discuss in class and write your own notes on the range ofcontributing factors both long-term and short-term, from politics to the weather, that are argued to have led toHarold Holt’s death. Include a discussion on your opinion of the relevance and even the worth of any of thesefactors. For example, what is the relevance to the Holt drowning of the claims involving the relationship betweenFederal Treasurer William McMahon and journalist Maxwell Newton, concerning the Japanese spying connection?• Imagine that the Prime Minister’s body had been found shortly after he had walked into the ocean at Portsea on17 December 1967. Discuss in class then write your own commentary on what an autopsy on the body could haveconclusively proven or disproven.• During an interview for the program, Noel Collins, Forensic Detective on the Holt case, says, ‘This was softly softly.We were investigating the disappearance of the Prime Minister. The protocol in those days is how far a policemanwas allowed to go without stepping on someone’s toes’. Write a commentary on what you think Collins means bythese observations. In what areas of the case could the police investigation have been limited, impeded or hamperedby matters of protocol and ‘good taste’, and why? How do you think someone like the fictional Dirty Harry (played infilms by Clint Eastwood) might have pursued the case, and do you think he may have produced results or not?• Write a commentary on Governor-General Lord Casey’s role in the events leading up to, and during, the search forthe missing Prime Minister. Do you think he stepped beyond his role as Governor-General to interfere in a situationthat was none of his business? Why did he order a letter that was in the missing Prime Minister’s briefcase to beretrieved? If this letter had been discovered by the police, and made public, what may have been the ramificationsfor Lord Casey?• Plan and write a short fiction story of political intrigue, based loosely on any aspect of the scenario referred to in theprevious activity. An alternative may be to work in pairs or as a small group to write the script for a short radio playthat could be rehearsed, revised and recorded for playback on your school’s intranet.Significance and aftermath of Holt’s disappearance• As preparation for the activity to follow, on poster paper construct a timeline of important national political eventsfrom the death of Harold Holt in late 1967 to the defeat of the Labor government in 1975.• Discuss in class then write your own view of the possible ways in which the course of history may have beenchanged by the disappearance and death of Harold Holt. Was it, for example, a factor in the defeat of the Liberal-Country Party government in the 1972 federal election? Explain why Tom Frame, Holt’s biographer, says at the endof the program that Holt’s death was the ‘real turning point between the old Australia…and the new. Different kindof politics, different kind of politicians’.• Is it likely a similar event such as a prime minister drowning on a summer weekend break could possibly happen inAustralia today? Write a response to this question in 200 words. Consider aspects such as security and surveillance.• What if? What if Harold Holt had not suddenly disappeared in December 1967? In 450-500 words plan and writean alternative national history of Australia from this point onwards, at least for the next 10 years; you may wish towork in pairs to present this as the script outline for a radio or film documentary.Media studies• Discuss in class then write your own analysis of why the writer/director of the documentary, Peter Butt, chooses tobegin and end the narrative with a mix of dramatised and actual archival footage of Harold Holt in a TV studio (incolour) and appearing on the screen of a superimposed TV set (in black and white). What is the significance of thesong, You’re Nobody ’Til Somebody Loves You, played on the soundtrack during these scenes? Why do you think thissong was selected for the film? Consider the words and music of an alternative theme song, perhaps taken from the1960s. What would you choose, and why?• Discuss the purpose and the effectiveness of scripted re-enactment scenes, and of filming on location wherethe actual real-life events took place. Do you think these scenes are necessary? Do they add anything to yourunderstanding and appreciation of the film’s content, themes and arguments? Provide examples from the program tosupport your opinions.• Do you agree that the content and style of the narrative voice-over is more melodramatic, emotive and rhetorical

THE PRIME MINISTER IS MISSINGTEACHERS NOTESthan it is even-tempered and informative? Support your viewpoint with examples from the film, in 300-350 words.• The film is billed in publicity as a ‘forensic investigation’. Discuss in class what this might mean, and whether,on evidence, it is a valid description of The Prime Minister is Missing. Students may also like to compare theinvestigative approach in this program to the technique used by director Peter Butt in another of his documentaryfilms produced for Film Australia, Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler?)• Make a note of the ‘conspiracy theories’ presented during the film. How do you think the film presents and valuesthese theories? Is the film dismissive of them without justification and evidence? Does it adequately disprove them?Does evidence mounted from other areas of the investigation simply outweigh and discredit them?• Discuss in class both the value and the inherent problems and possible dangers of a documentary film drawingon the memories and opinions of eyewitness subjects and those closely involved in the events depicted, providingexamples from the program to support your comments.• How would you promote The Prime Minister is Missing as a billboard display? Discuss the possibilities in class thenconstruct your own promotional poster that captures an impression of the film’s subject and purpose in both textand illustration. How, for example, would you aim to capture the attention of an audience under 20 years old, manyof whom may never have heard of Harold Holt?• In 300-400 words write a review of The Prime Minister is Missing, designed for a popular weekly TV magazine.References and Further ResourcesBooks and other published literature:Australia in the 1960s, Rigby, Adelaide, 1980Tom Frame, The Life and Death of Harold Holt, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2005David Goldsworthy, Losing the Blanket: Australia and the End of Britain’s Empire, Melbourne University Press, CarltonSouth, 2002Anthony Grey, The Prime Minister was a Spy, Hodder & Stoughton, Lane Cove, 1983Bridget Griffen-Foley, Party Games: Australian Politicians and the Media from War to Dismissal, Text Publishing,Melbourne, 2003Zara Holt, My Life and Harry: An Autobiography, The Herald, Melbourne, 1968Donald Horne, The Lucky Country Revisited, Dent, Knoxfield, 1987James Jupp, Party Politics: Australia 1966-1981, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1982Greg Langley, A Decade of Dissent: Vietnam and the Conflict on the Australian Homefront, Allen & Unwin, North Sydney,1992John Larkin and Geoffrey Barker, The Holt Report: A Full Investigation into the Death of the Prime Minister, Mr Harold Holton December 17, 1967, The Age (an Age ‘Insight’ book), Melbourne, 1968Sarah Newton, Maxwell Newton: A Biography, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, South Fremantle, 1993Report by the Commonwealth and Victoria Police in the Disappearance of the Prime Minister the Right Honourable HaroldHolt, Cheviot Beach, Portsea, Victoria, Sunday, 17 December 1967, National Archives, Canberra, 1968Film/TV:Peter Butt (director), Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler?, Film Australia, 2006Iain Gillespie (director), The Harold Holt Mystery, Ten Network, 1985Websites:Australian Prime Ministers (Use the site search tools and the research map to find information on these relevantprime ministers, listed here in their order of service: Robert Menzies, Harold Holt, John McEwen, John Gorton, WilliamMcMahon, Gough Whitlam):www.primeministers.naa.gov.auArthur Calwell:www.blognow.com.au/arthurcalwell(Lord) Richard Casey:www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130426b.htm

THE PRIME MINISTER IS MISSINGTEACHERS NOTESBob Dylan’s songs:www.bobdylan.com/songs/times.htmlTony Eggleton:www.theage.com.au/articles/2001/12/31/1061663718405.htmlAinslie Gotto:http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms9895Harold Holt (See also Australian Prime Ministers, above):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holtwww.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22760801-2862,00.htmlwww.apmc.oph.gov.au/lib/docs/17%20Holt%20Web.pdfwww.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s951005.htmZara Holt:http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pageName=wife&pmId=17National Service, 1964-1972:www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/viet_app.aspMaxwell Newton:http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms9362Vietnam War, 1962-1972:www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam.aspYou’re Nobody ’Til Somebody Loves You:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You’re_Nobody_’Til_Somebody_Loves_YouThe Prime Minister is MissingA Film Australia Making History Production in association with Blackwattle Films. Developed and produced in associationwith the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Narrator: Helen MorseWriter/Director: Peter ButtProducers: Peter Butt, Sally ReganExecutive Producer: Anna GrieveYear: 2008Duration: 56 minutesStudy guide written by Roger Stitson.For information about Film Australia programs, contact:Screen AustraliaSales OfficeGPO Box 3984Sydney NSW 2001tel 02 8113 5800 tollfree 1800 213 099fax 02 9416 9401 tollfree 1800 077 471sales@screenaustralia.gov.auwww.screenaustralia.gov.auBLACKWATTLE FILMS